Friday, March 13, 2015

Falling in Love (Guido Brunetti Mystery) by Donna Leon

The latest books in this long police procedural/mystery
series set in Venice, Italy, have read less like novels and more like
novelizations of TV episodes.Falling in
Love is no exception.The construction
of the book is like an episode:we meet
the victim and see an incident, later the policeman is called in and he
investigates, an action elevates the threat, and that threat continues until
the exciting climax comes and the policeman leads the shaken woman home.

What we don't get is Brunetti acting in any way to save the
day or the victim.I think the story
could have existed, with very little change, without Brunetti being involved at
all, which is quite odd.If you are a
diehard Brunetti fan, you will get your scenes with his family, his co-workers,
his boss, his parents-in-law, and scenes of Brunetti wandering the beautiful
streets and bridges of Venice.We even
have the requisite comment:

"We live in Paradise, don't we?"

However, we spend much of the book in the mind and life of
the opera singer, Flavia.We learn much
about the life of an opera diva in Falling in Love, which I received as a review-copy.The catch phrases "Too much information"
and "More than I wanted to know" popped into my mind while reading
this book.But if you are an avid opera
fan, you may find those parts of the book interesting.

Flavia was an abrasive character introduced in the first
book in the series, who made a return in a later book.Her back story is more hinted at than mined
in this story, making some of the references by the character confusing if you
have not read the previous two books in which she appears.

Quickly: she is a bisexual woman with an ex-husband and
children, who had to give up her lesbian lover in order to not lose custody of
her children during her divorce.Her
references to her past lesbian relationships are odd, to say the least,
in Falling in Love, dismissing them as something akin to a hobby: "having given that up".

Donna Leon's Brunetti novels are known for the abrasive views of the author intruding on the story. But there are few of those intrusion in Falling in Love. But there are some odd asides in Falling in Love, such as:

...Griffoni asked with the deference beautiful women
-- if they are intelligent -- use when dealing with women who are less
attractive than they are.

And much of the book is not about a crime or criminal, but
about how horrible fans of celebrities can be:

...all these people crowding round, all of them
wanting something, to tell you something about themselves.They think they want to tell you how much
they liked your performance, but what they really want is to make you remember
them.Or like them.

Most of the narration in the book is in third-person
limited, but there is some omniscient narration, too.The point-of-view is quite often Flavia's,
but more often Guido Brunetti's.Through
Flavia's eyes, in the beginning of the book, we see Guido's trademark affection
for his wife, his sense of humor and his self-deprecating attitude.When we switch to Brunetti's point of view,
we get to see how extremely observant he is, and how quickly he can read
people.

The British single quotes in place of double quotes may
annoy some readers.And the abrupt
ending will disappoint fans, just as it did in the previous book in the series. The readers never gets to learn how the culprit managed the crimes.

Donna Leon’s Death at La Fenice, the first novel in her
beloved Commissario Guido Brunetti series, introduced readers to the glamorous
and cutthroat world of opera and one of Italy’s finest living sopranos, Flavia
Petrelli; then a suspect in the poisoning of a renowned German conductor. Years after Brunetti cleared her name, Flavia
has returned to Venice and La Fenice to sing the lead in Tosca.

Brunetti and his wife, Paola, attend an early performance, and Flavia receives
a standing ovation. Back in her dressing
room, she finds bouquets of yellow roses; too many roses. Every surface of the
room is covered with them. An anonymous
fan has been showering Flavia with these beautiful gifts in London, St.
Petersburg, Amsterdam, and now, Venice, but she no longer feels flattered.

A few nights later, invited by Brunetti to dine at his
in-laws’ palazzo, Flavia confesses her alarm at these excessive displays of
adoration. And when a talented young
Venetian singer who has caught Flavia’s attention is savagely attacked,
Brunetti begins to think that Flavia’s fears are justified in ways neither of
them imagined. He must enter in the
psyche of an obsessive fan before Flavia, or anyone else, comes to harm.

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I am Candida Martinelli, and I review books set in Italy or Ancient Rome, or about Italy and Italian culture, or about hyphenated Italian culture. My site is family-friendly. Authors and publishers please click the image to visit my Contact and Reviews page.

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Women's Fiction - Psychological Novel

A retired couple visit Venice. Review: "It read as a middle age marital crisis at first, then everything changed and I couldn't put it down." Review: "This charming story is an armchair visit to Venice that gives mature women renewed hope of second chance love and has a surprising twist to the mystery." Click the cover to go to the book's Amazon.com page.

Romance - Satire Novel

Gina Accornero's quiet life is threatened when the media invade her sleepy seaside town in search of a disgraced TV star, Robert Granieri. "This romantic tale...is spiced with a rich satire of the wired world we live in." Click the cover to go to the book's Amazon.com page.

Romance - Family Life Novel

Two hyphenated Italians find each other and love. "A Modern Multicultural Fairy Tale: This sweet modern romance is chock full of matchmaking and happy endings for everyone concerned, with the exception of the obligatory ogre, who gets his just desserts while the happy reader develops an inexplicable craving for bagels." Click the cover to go to book's page at Amazon.com.

Traditional Murder Mystery

A retired woman visits Italy and gets involved in murder. "An old-fashioned who done it with plenty of suspicious characters, set in modern day Italy." Click cover to go to book's page at Amazon.com.

Italophile Short Stories

Crime, murder and male-female relations, a la Daphne du Maurier. "well-crafted" and "unpredictable" Click image to go to the book's page at Amazon.com.

Crime-Romance Novel

An Italian Europol officer deals with crime and women. "...reminded me a lot of the show Criminal Minds" Click the cover to go to the book's age at Amazon.com.

Gilded Age 9-Book YA Mystery Series

Debutante Violet deals with family and crime in 1899 New York City. "I adored this sweet little book" Click the cover to go to the first book's page at Amazon.com.

Children's E-Book - Universal PDF E-Book Format

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